Bharat Ratna PDF

Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna (Hindi

pronunciation: [bʰaːrət̪ rət̪nə]; Jewel of
India)[1] is the highest civilian award of the
Republic of India. Instituted in 1954, the
award is conferred "in recognition of
exceptional service/performance of the
highest order", without distinction of race,
occupation, position, or sex.[2][3][4] The
award was originally limited to
achievements in the arts, literature,
science, and public services, but the
government expanded the criteria to
include "any field of human endeavour" in
December 2011.[5] The recommendations
for the Bharat Ratna are made by the
Prime Minister to the President, with a
maximum of three nominees being
awarded per year. Recipients receive a
Sanad (certificate) signed by the President
and a peepal-leaf–shaped medallion; there
is no monetary grant associated with the
award. Bharat Ratna recipients rank
seventh in the Indian order of precedence.
Bharat Ratna
Awarded by
Government of India
Country India
Type National civilian
Ribbon
Obverse An image of the Sun

along with the words
"Bharat Ratna",
inscribed in Devanagari
script, on a peepal
(Ficus religiosa) leaf
Reverse A platinum State

Reverse A platinum State
Emblem of India
placed in the centre
with the national
motto, "Satyameva
Jayate" (Truth alone
triumphs) in
Devanagari script
Statistics
Established 1954
First awarded 1954
C. Rajagopalachari
Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan
C. V. Raman
Last awarded 2019
Nanaji Deshmukh
Nanaji Deshmukh
(Posthumous)
Bhupen Hazarika
(Posthumous)
Pranab Mukherjee
Total awarded 48
Precedence
Next (lower) Padma Vibhushan
The first recipients of the Bharat Ratna

were politician C. Rajagopalachari,
philosopher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and
scientist C. V. Raman, who were honoured
in 1954. Since then, the award has been
bestowed upon 48 individuals, including
14 who were awarded posthumously. The
original statutes did not provide for
posthumous awards but were amended in
January 1955 to permit them. Former
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
became the first individual to be honoured
posthumously. In 2014, cricketer Sachin
Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the
youngest recipient; while social reformer
Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his
100th birthday. Though usually conferred
on India-born citizens, the Bharat Ratna
has been awarded to one naturalised
citizen, Mother Teresa, and to two non-
Indians, Pakistan national Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan and former South African
President Nelson Mandela. On 25 January
2019, the government announced the
award to social activist Nanaji Deshmukh
(posthumously), singer-music director
Bhupen Hazarika (posthumously) and to
former President of India Pranab
Mukherjee.
The Bharat Ratna, along with other

personal civil honours, was briefly
suspended from July 1977 to January
1980, during the change in the national
government; and for a second time from
August 1992 to December 1995, when
several public-interest litigations
challenged the constitutional validity of
the awards. In 1992, the government's
decision to confer the award
posthumously on Subhas Chandra Bose
was opposed by those who had refused to
accept the fact of his death, including
some members of his extended family.
Following a 1997 Supreme Court decision,
the press communiqué announcing Bose's
award was cancelled; it is the only time
when the award was announced but not
conferred.
Several bestowals of the award have met

with criticism. The posthumous award for
M. G. Ramachandran (1988) was
considered to have been aimed at
placating the voters for the upcoming
assembly election and posthumous
awards of Madan Mohan Malaviya (2015)
and Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) drew
criticism for they died before the award
was instituted.
History
On 2 January 1954, a press communiqué
was released from the office of the
secretary to the President announcing the
creation of two civilian awards—Bharat
Ratna, the highest civilian award, and the
three-tier Padma Vibhushan, classified into
"Pahela Warg" (Class I), "Dusra Warg"
(Class II), and "Tisra Warg" (Class III),
which rank below the Bharat Ratna.[2] On
15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan
was reclassified into three different
awards; the Padma Vibhushan, the highest
of the three, followed by the Padma
Bhushan and the Padma Shri.[3]
There is no formal provision that recipients

of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian
citizens. It has been awarded to a
naturalised Indian citizen, Mother Teresa in
1980, and to two non-Indians, Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the
former South African president Nelson
Mandela in 1990.[6] M.S. Subbulakshmi
from Tamil Nadu became the first
musician to receive the honour. Sachin
Tendulkar, at the age of 40, became the
youngest person and first athlete to
receive the honour.[7] In a special
ceremony on 18 April 1958, Dhondo
Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th
birthday.[8][a] As of 2015, the award has
been conferred upon 45 people with 12
posthumous declarations.[10]
The award was briefly suspended twice in

its history.[11] The first suspension
occurred after Morarji Desai was sworn in
as the fourth Prime Minister in 1977. His
government withdrew all personal civil
honours on 13 July 1977.[12][13] The
suspension was rescinded on 25 January
1980, after Indira Gandhi became the
Prime Minister.[14][15] The civilian awards
were suspended again in mid-1992, when
two Public-Interest Litigations were filed,
one in the Kerala High Court and another
in the Madhya Pradesh High Court,
challenging the "constitutional validity" of
the awards.[11] The awards were
reintroduced by the Supreme Court in
December 1995, following the conclusion
of the litigation.[13][16]
Regulations
The Bharat Ratna is conferred "in
recognition of exceptional
service/performance of the highest order",
without distinction of race, occupation,
position, or sex.[4] The award was
originally confined to the arts, literature,
science, and public services, as per the
1954 regulations.[2] In December 2011, the
rules were changed to include "any field of
human endeavour".[5] The 1954 statutes
did not allow posthumous awards, but this
was subsequently modified in the January
1955 statute, and Lal Bahadur Shastri
became the first recipient to be honoured
posthumously in 1966.[3][17]
Although there is no formal nomination

process, recommendations for the award
can only be made by the Prime Minister to
the President with a maximum number of
three nominees being awarded per year.
However, in 1999, four individuals were
awarded the honour. The recipient receives
a Sanad (certificate) signed by the
President and a medallion without any
monetary grant. Usage of the title 'Bharat
Ratna' as a prefix by the awardee is
exempt from Article 18 (1) of the
Constitution,[b] as per the Supreme Court's
precedent in Balaji Raghavan/S.P. Anand v.
Union of India in 1995.[19] Additionally,
recipients may either use the expression
"Awarded Bharat Ratna by the President"
or "Recipient of Bharat Ratna Award" to
indicate that they have been honoured with
the award.[4] The holders of the Bharat
Ratna rank seventh in the Indian order of
precedence.[20]
As with many official announcements,

recipients are announced and registered in
The Gazette of India, a publication released
by the Department of Publication, Ministry
of Urban Development used for official
government notices; without publication in
the Gazette, conferral of the award is not
considered official. Recipients whose
awards have been revoked or restored,
both of which require the authority of the
President, are registered in the Gazette.
Recipients whose awards have been
revoked are required to surrender their
medals, and their names are struck from
the register.[2][3]
Specifications
The original 1954 specifications of the
award was a circle made of gold 13⁄8
inches (35 mm) in diameter with a centred
sun burst design on the obverse side. The
text "Bharat Ratna", in Devanagari Script, is
inscribed on the upper edge in silver gilt
with a wreath set along on the lower edge.
A platinum State Emblem of India was
placed in the centre of the reverse side
with the national motto, "Satyameva
Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in
Devanagari Script, inscribed in silver-gilt on
the lower edge.[2]
A year later, the design was modified. The

current medal is in the shape of a peepal
leaf, approximately 25⁄16 inches (59 mm)
long, 17⁄8 inches (48 mm) wide and 1⁄8
inch (3.2 mm) thick and rimmed in
platinum. The embossed sun burst design,
made of platinum, on the obverse side of
the medal has a diameter of 5⁄8 inch
(16 mm) with rays spreading out from 5⁄6
inch (21 mm) to 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) from the
center of the Sun. The words "Bharat
Ratna" on the obverse side remained the
same as the 1954 design as did the
emblem of India and "Satyameva Jayate"
on the reverse side. A 2-inch-wide (51 mm)
white ribbon is attached to the medal so it
can be worn around the neck.[3][11][21] In
1957, the silver-gilt decoration was
changed to burnished bronze.[2][22] The
Bharat Ratna medals are produced at
Alipore Mint, Kolkata along with the other
civilian and military awards like Padma
Vibushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri,
and Param Veer Chakra.[23]
Controversies
The Bharat Ratna has been surrounded by
several controversies and multiple Public-
Interest Litigations (PIL) had been filed
against the conferral of the
award.[13][24][25][26][27]
Subhas Chandra Bose (1992)
In 1992, a press release was published to confer the

award posthumously on Bose which was later
cancelled by the Supreme Court in 1997.
On 23 January 1992, a press release was
published by the President's Secretariat to
confer the award posthumously on Subhas
Chandra Bose. The decision triggered
much criticism and a PIL was filed in the
Calcutta High Court to revoke the
award.[24] The petitioner took objection to
the conferral of the award and its
posthumous mention of Bose, saying that
honouring a personality higher than the
award is "ridiculous", and it was an act of
"carelessness" to classify such a person
with past and future recipients. It said that
the award cannot be conferred to Bose
posthumously as the Government had not
officially accepted his death on 18 August
1945. The petitioner requested the
whereabouts of Bose from 18 August
1945 to date, based on the information
collected by the 1956 Shah Nawaz
Committee and the 1970 Khosla
Commission. Bose's family members
expressed their unwillingness to accept
the award.[28][29]
To deliver the judgement, the Supreme

Court formed a Special Division Bench
with Judge Sujata V. Manohar and G. B.
Pattanaik. The Solicitor General noted that
to confer the award per the appropriate
regulations pertaining to the Bharat Ratna,
Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and
Padma Shri, the name of the recipient
must be published in The Gazette of India
and entered in the recipients register
maintained under the direction of the
President.[2] It was noted that only an
announcement had been made by press
communiqué, but the government had not
proceeded to confer the award by
publishing the name in the Gazette and
entering the name in the register.
Furthermore, the then presidents, R.
Venkataraman (1987–92) and Shankar
Dayal Sharma (1992–97), had not
conferred a Sanad (certificate) with their
signature and seal.[28]
On 4 August 1997, the Supreme Court
delivered an order that since the award
had not been officially conferred, it cannot
be revoked and declared that the press
communiqué be treated as cancelled. The
court declined to pass any judgement on
the posthumous mention of Bose and his
death.[28][30]
Civilian awards as "Titles" (1992)
In 1992, two PILs were filed in the High

Courts; one in the Kerala High Court on 13
February 1992 by Balaji Raghavan and
another in the Madhya Pradesh High Court
(Indore Bench) on 24 August 1992 by
Satya Pal Anand. Both petitioners
questioned the civilian awards being
"Titles" per an interpretation of Article 18
(1) of the Constitution.[b] On 25 August
1992, the Madhya Pradesh High Court
issued a notice temporarily suspending all
civilian awards.[13] A Special Division
Bench of the Supreme Court was formed
comprising five judges; A. M. Ahmadi C. J.,
Kuldip Singh, B. P. Jeevan Reddy, N. P.
Singh, and S. Saghir Ahmad. On 15
December 1995, the Special Division
Bench restored the awards and delivered a
judgement that the "Bharat Ratna and
Padma awards are not titles under Article
18 of the Constitution".[16]
C. N. R. Rao and Sachin Tendulkar
(2013)
Following the announcement, in November

2013, that C. N. R. Rao and Sachin
Tendulkar were to be awarded the Bharat
Ratna, multiple PILs were filed challenging
the conferring of the award. The PIL filed
against Rao declared that other Indian
scientists, such as Homi Bhabha and
Vikram Sarabhai, had contributed more
than Rao and his claim of publishing 1400
research papers was "physically
impossible". The suit stated that as Rao
had proven cases of plagiarism, he should
not be presented with the award but rather
should be annulled.[25] The PIL filed
against Tendulkar to the Election
Commission under the Right to
Information Act indicated that the
awarding him the Bharat Ratna was a
violation of the model code of conduct.
The petitioner noted that as Tendulkar was
an Indian National Congress nominated
Member of Rajya Sabha, the decision to
award him the Bharat Ratna would
influence the voters of Delhi, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and
Mizoram where the election process was
underway at the time.[26] Another PIL was
filed against Tendulkar and a few
ministers, "alleging a conspiracy to ignore"
an Indian field hockey player Dhyan
Chand."[27][c]
On 4 December 2013, the Election

Commission rejected the petition stating
that conferring the award on people from
non-polling states did not amount to a
violation of the code.[31] Other High Courts
as well rejected the petitions raised
against Rao and Tendulkar.[32]
Criticism
In 1988, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi
(1984–89) conferred the Bharat Ratna
posthumously on movie actor and former
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G.
Ramachandran, in a bid to influence voters
prior to the Tamil Nadu assembly elections
in 1989.[33][34] The decision was criticised
for awarding Ramachandran before
independence activist B. R. Ambedkar and
Vallabhbhai Patel, who were bestowed the
honour in 1990 and 1991 respectively.[35]
While Ravi Shankar was accused of
lobbying for the award,[36] the decision by
Indira Gandhi to posthumously honour K.
Kamaraj was considered to have been
aimed at placating Tamil voters for the
Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 1977.
The seventh Prime Minister V. P. Singh was
criticised for posthumously honouring B.
R. Ambedkar to please the Dalits.[37][33]
The posthumous conferments of the
award on the recipients who died before
the Indian independence in 1947 or the
award was instituted in 1954 have been
criticised by historians.[38] It was noted
that such conferments could lead to more
demands to honour people like Maurya
Emperor Ashoka,[39] Mughal Emperor
Akbar, Maratha Emperor Shivaji, Nobel
Laureate Rabindranath Tagore,[40] Hindu
spiritualist Swami Vivekananda,[41] and
independence activist Bal Gangadhar
Tilak.[42] The then Prime Minister P. V.
Narasimha Rao (1991–96) was criticised
for bestowing the award upon Vallabhbhai
Patel in 1991, 41 years after his death in
1950; and upon Subhas Chandra Bose in
1992, who went missing since 18 August
1945.[42][43] Similarly in 2015, the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's decision to
award Madan Mohan Malaviya, who died
in 1946, met with criticism.[42] Janardan
Dwivedi, politician of the Indian National
Congress, said that Malaviya, who worked
predominantly in Varanasi, was
"deliberately chosen" by the Prime Minister
Modi, who is the incumbent Member of
Parliament from Varanasi.[44]
A few of the conferments have been

criticised for honouring personalities only
after they received global recognition.[45]
The award for Mother Teresa was
announced in 1980, a year after she was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Satyajit
Ray received an Academy Honorary Award
in 1992 followed by the Bharat Ratna the
same year.[46][47] In 1999, Amartya Sen
was awarded the Bharat Ratna, a year after
his 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences. The award was
proposed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee to President K. R. Narayanan
who agreed to the proposal.[48][49]
Popular demands
Though, as per the statutes for the Bharat
Ratna, the recommendations for the award
can only be made by the Prime Minister to
the President,[4] there have been several
demands from various political parties to
honour their leaders. In January 2008,
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L. K.
Advani wrote to the then Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh recommending Singh's
predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the
award.[50][51] This was immediately
followed by the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) lobbying for their leader, Jyoti
Basu, former Chief Minister of West
Bengal.[52] Basu, India's longest-serving
chief minister at that time, said that he
would decline the honour, even if
awarded.[53] Similar demands were made
by Telugu Desam Party, Bahujan Samaj
Party, and Shiromani Akali Dal for their
respective leaders N. T. Rama Rao, Kanshi
Ram, and Parkash Singh Badal.[54] In
September 2015, regional political party
Shiv Sena demanded the award for the
independence activist Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar stating that he had been
"deliberately neglected by previous
governments" but his family clarified that
they are not making such demand and that
the freedom fighter is known for his
contribution towards independence
movement and did not need an award for
recognition.[55]
Per the original statutes, sportspersons

were not eligible for the Bharat Ratna;
however, a revision of the rules in
December 2011 made eligible "any field of
human endeavour".[5] Subsequently,
several sportspersons' names were
discussed; among the most talked-about
of these was field-hockey player Dhyan
Chand, who was recommended multiple
times for the posthumous honour.[56] In
2011, 82 members of parliament
recommended Chand's name for the
award to the Prime Minister's Office. In
January 2012, the Ministry of Youth Affairs
and Sports forwarded his name again, this
time along with 2008 Summer Olympics
gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and
mountaineer Tenzing Norgay.[57] Bindra
had earlier been recommended for the
award in May 2013 by the National Rifle
Association of India.[58] In July 2013, the
ministry again recommended Dhyan
Chand.[57][59] However, in November 2013,
cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became the
first sports-person to receive the honour
and this garnered much criticism for the
government.[7][60]
A PIL was filed in the Karnataka High
Court where in the petitioner requested the
court to issue a direction to the Ministry of
Home Affairs to consider their
representation dated 26 October 2012 and
confer the Bharat Ratna upon Mahatma
Gandhi. On 27 January 2014, a counsel
appearing for the petitioner noted that
after multiple representations from the
petitioner, they were provided with the
information under RTI that the
recommendations to confer the award on
Gandhi have been received multiple times
in the past and were forwarded to the
Prime Minister's Office. A Division bench
comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela
and Justice B.V. Nagarathna dismissed the
petition stating that the subject is not
amenable to any adjudication process and
the nominations and conferment process
is stated to be informal and in the
discretion of the highest authority in the
Government.[61][62]
List of recipients
Key
+ Naturalized citizen recipient * Non-citizen recipient # Posthumous recipient
List of laureates awarded the Bharat Ratna[10]
Year Laureates Notes
An Indian independence activist, statesman, and lawyer,

Rajagopalachari was the only Indian and last Governor-General
C. Rajagopalachari of independent India. He was Chief Minister of Madras
Presidency (1937–39) and Madras State (1952–54); and founder
of Indian political party Swatantra Party.[63]
Philosopher Radhakrishnan served as India's first Vice-President

Sarvepalli (1952–62) and second President (1962–67).[64][65] Since 1962,
1954
Radhakrishnan his birthday on 5 September is observed as "Teachers' Day" in
India.[66]
Widely known for his work on the scattering of light and the
discovery of the effect, better known as "Raman scattering",
C. V. Raman Raman mainly worked in the field of atomic physics and
electromagnetism and was presented Nobel Prize in Physics in
1930.[67]
1955 Bhagwan Das Independence activist, philosopher, and educationist, Das is a co-
founder of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith and worked with
Madan Mohan Malaviya for the foundation of Banaras Hindu

University.[68]
Civil engineer, statesman, and Diwan of Mysore (1912–18),

Visvesvaraya was a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian
M. Visvesvaraya
Empire. His birthday, 15 September, is observed as "Engineer's
Day" in India.[69]
Independence activist and author, Nehru is the first and the

Jawaharlal Nehru
longest-serving Prime Minister of India (1947–64).[50][70]
Independence activist Pant was premier of United Provinces

1957 Govind Ballabh Pant (1937–39, 1946–50) and first Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
(1950–54). He served as Union Home Minister from 1955–61.[71]
Social reformer and educator, Karve is widely known for his

works related to woman education and remarriage of Hindu
Dhondo Keshav
1958 widows. He established the Widow Marriage Association (1883),
Karve
Hindu Widows Home (1896) and started Shreemati Nathibai
Hindu Widows Home (1896), and started Shreemati Nathibai
Damodar Thackersey Women's University in 1916.[8][72]
A physician, political leader, philanthropist, educationist, and

social worker, Roy is often considered as "Maker of Modern West
Bidhan Chandra Roy Bengal".[73] He was second Chief Minister of West Bengal (1948–
62) and his birthday on 1 July is observed as National Doctors'
1961 Day in India.[52]
Often titled as "Rajarshi", Tandon was an independence activist

Purushottam Das and served as speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Tandon (1937–50). He was actively involved in a campaign to get official
language status to Hindi.[74]
Independence activist, lawyer, statesman, and scholar,[75] Prasad

was closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the non-
1962 Rajendra Prasad
cooperation movement for Indian independence.[76] He was later
elected as the first President of India (1950–62).[64]
1963 Independence activist and education philosopher, Husain served

as a Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (1948–56) and
Zakir Husain the Governor of Bihar (1957–62).[77] Later, he was elected as
second Vice-President of India (1962–67) and went on to
become the third President of India (1967–69).[64][65]
Pandurang Vaman Indologist and Sanskrit scholar,[78] Kane is best known for his five
Kane volume literary work, History of Dharmaśāstra: Ancient and
Medieval Religious and Civil Law in India; the "monumental" work
that extends over nearly 6,500 pages and being published from
1930 to 1962.[79]
Known for his slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the Soldier, Hail
Lal Bahadur the Farmer"),[80] Independence activist Shastri served as second
1966
Shastri[i]# Prime Minister of India (1964–66) and led the country during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.[50][81]
Known as the "Iron Lady of India",[82] Gandhi was the Prime

Minister of India during 1966–77 and 1980–84.[50] During the
1971 Indira Gandhi Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, her government supported
Bangladesh Liberation War which led to the formation of a new
country, Bangladesh.[83]
While studying at the University College Dublin, Giri was involved

y g y g ,
in the Irish Sinn Féin movement. Returning to India, he organized
labour unions and brought them to take active participation in
Indian freedom struggle. Post-independence, Giri held positions
1975 V. V. Giri
of Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Mysore and various
other cabinet ministries. He became the first acting President
and was eventually elected as the fourth President of India
(1969–74).[64][84][85]
Independence activist and statesman Kamaraj was a Chief

1976 K. Kamaraj[ii]# Minister of Tamil Nadu for three terms; 1954–57, 1957–62, and
1962–63.[86][87]
"Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta" was a catholic nun and the

founder of the Missionaries of Charity. She was awarded the
1980 Mother Teresa + Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in 1979 and was
beatified on 19 October 2003 by Pope John Paul II and
canonised on 4 September 2016 by Pope Francis.[88]
Independence activist, social reformer, and a close associate of

Mahatma Gandhi, Bhave is best known for his Bhoodan
1983 Vinoba Bhave[iii]# movement, "Land-Gift Movement".[89] He was given the honorific
title "Acharya" ("teacher") and was awarded the Ramon
Magsaysay Award (1958) for his humanitarian work.[90]
1987 Khan Abdul Ghaffar Widely known as "Frontier Gandhi", independence activist and
Khan* Pashtun leader Khan was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He
joined Khilafat Movement in 1920 and founded Khudai
Khidmatgar ("Red Shirt movement") in 1929.[91]
M. G. Actor turned politician Ramachandran served as Chief Minister

1988
Ramachandran[iv][d]# of Tamil Nadu for three terms; 1977–80, 1980–84, 1985–87.[86]
Social reformer and leader of the Dalits,[93] Ambedkar was the

Chief architect of the Indian Constitution and also served as the
first Law Minister of India.[94] Ambedkar predominantly
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar[v]# campaigned against the social discrimination with Dalits, the
Hindu varna system.[95] He was associated with the Dalit
Buddhist movement and accepted Buddhism as a religion along
1990
with his close to half a million followers on 14 October 1956.[96]
Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, Mandela

was the President of South Africa (1994–99).[97] Often called as
was the President of South Africa (1994 99). Often called as
Nelson Mandela* the "Gandhi of South Africa",[98] Mandela's African National
Congress movement was influenced by Gandhian philosophy.[99]
In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[100]
Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India serving from 1984
Rajiv Gandhi[vi]#
to 1989.[50]
Widely known as the "Iron Man of India",[101] Patel was an

independence activist and first Deputy Prime Minister of India
[vii]#
Vallabhbhai Patel (1947–50). Post independence, "Sardar" ("Leader") Patel worked
1991 with V. P. Menon towards dissolving 555 princely states into the
Indian union.[102][103]
Independence activist Desai was the fourth Prime Minister of

India (1977–79).[50] He is the only Indian national to be awarded
Morarji Desai[e]
the Nishan-e-Pakistan, highest civilian award given by the
Government of Pakistan.[105]
1992 Independence activist Azad was India's first Minister of

Abul Kalam Education and worked towards free primary education. He was
Azad[viii][f]# widely known as "Maulana Azad" and his birthday on 11
November is observed as National Education Day in India.[108]
J. R. D. Tata Industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, Tata founded
India's first airline Air India. He is the founder of various institutes

including Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Tata Memorial
Hospital, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Motors, TCS,
National Institute of Advanced Studies, and National Centre for
the Performing Arts.[109]
Having debuted as a director with Pather Panchali (1955),[110]

film-maker Ray is credited with bringing world recognition to
Satyajit Ray
Indian cinema.[111] In 1984, Ray was awarded the Dadasaheb
Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema.[112]
Independence activist Nanda was two times interim Prime

Gulzarilal Nanda Minister of India (1964, 1966) and two times deputy chairman of
the Planning Commission.[50][113]
Independence activist Ali is better known for hoisting the Indian

Aruna Asaf Ali[ix]# flag in Bombay during the Quit India Movement in 1942. Post
Independence, Ali was elected as Delhi's first mayor in 1958.[114]
p , y
Aerospace and defence scientist, Kalam was involved in the

development of India's first satellite launch vehicle SLV III and
1997 was the architect of Integrated Guided Missile Development
Program. He worked for Indian National Committee for Space
Research, Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Research and Development Laboratory and was appointed as the
Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Secretary to
Department of Defence Research and Development and Director
General of Defence Research and Development Organisation.[115]
Later, he served as the eleventh President of India from 2002
until 2007.[64]
Carnatic classical vocalist Subbulakshmi, often hailed as "Queen

M. S. Subbulakshmi of songs", is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon
Magsaysay award.[116]
Independence activist and former Minister of Agriculture of India

1998
(1964–66), Subramaniam is known for his contribution towards
Chidambaram
Green Revolution in India. During the late 1970s, he worked for
Subramaniam
International Rice Research Institute, Manila, and the
International Maize and Wheat Research Institute, Mexico.[117]
1999 Jayaprakash Independence activist, social reformer, and commonly referred

Narayan[x]# as "Lok Nayak" ("People's Hero"), Narayan is better known for
"Total Revolution Movement" or "JP Movement" initiated during
the mid-1970s to "overthrow the corrupt and exploitative
Congress government".[118]
Winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

(1998),[119] Sen has done research over several topics including
Amartya Sen social choice theory, ethics and political philosophy, welfare
economics, decision theory, development economics, public
health, and gender studies.[120]
Independence activist Bordoloi is the first Chief Minister of

Assam (1946–50).[121] His efforts and association with the then
Gopinath Bordoloi[xi]# Minister of Home Affairs Vallabhbhai Patel were widely
acknowledged while keeping Assam united with India when parts
of it were to merge with East Pakistan.[122]
Winner of four Grammy Awards and often considered "the
world's best-known exponent of Hindustani classical music",
Ravi Shankar sitar player Shankar is known for his collaborative work with
Western musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and George
Harrison.[123]
Widely credited as the "nightingale of India",[124] playback singer

Mangeshkar started her career in the 1940s and has sung songs
Lata Mangeshkar
in over 36 languages.[125] In 1989, Mangeshkar was awarded the
2001 Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema.[112]
Hindustani classical shehnai player, Khan played the instrument

Bismillah Khan for more than eight decades and is credited to have brought the
instrument to the centre stage of Indian music.[126]
Hindustani classical vocalist, Joshi was a disciple of Kirana

gharana, an Indian musical school. He is widely known for the
2008 Bhimsen Joshi
Khyal genre of singing with a "mastery over rhythm and accurate
notes".[127][128]
2014 C. N. R. Rao The recipient of Honorary Doctorates from 63 Universities

including Purdue, IIT Bombay, Oxford, chemist and professor Rao
has worked prominently in the fields of Solid State and Materials
Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Molecular Structure. He has

authored around 1600 research papers and 48 books.[129]
Having debuted in 1989, Tendulkar played 664 international

cricket matches in a career spanning over two decades. He holds
various cricket records including the only player to have scored
Sachin Tendulkar one hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a
double century in a One Day International and the only player to
complete more than 30,000 runs in both ODI and Test
cricket.[130][131]
Scholar and educational reformer Malaviya is a founder of Akhil

Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (1906) and Banaras Hindu
Madan Mohan University and served as the university's vice-chancellor from
Malaviya[xii]# 1919 until 1938. He was the President of Indian National
Congress for four terms and was the Chairman of Hindustan
2015 Times from 1924 to 1946.[132]
Parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee was elected
nine times to the Lok Sabha, twice to the Rajya Sabha and served
Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister of India for three terms; 1996, 1998, 1999–
2004.[50] He was Minister of External Affairs during 1977–79 and
was awarded the "Best Parliamentarian" in 1994.[133]
2019 Mukherjee is an Indian politician who served as the 13th

President of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career
spanning five decades, Mukherjee has been a senior leader in the
Pranab Mukherjee
Indian National Congress and has occupied several ministerial
portfolios in the Government of India. Prior to his election as
President, he was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012.
Hazarika was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet

and film-maker from Assam, widely known as Sudhakantha. His
songs, written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by
Bhupen Hazarika[xiii]#
himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and
have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably
in Bengali and Hindi.
Nanaji Deshmukh[xiv]# Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh also known as Nanaji

Deshmukh (11 October 1916 – 27 February 2010) was a social
activist from India. He worked in the fields of education, health,
and rural self-reliance. He was a leader of the Bharatiya Jana
Sangh and also a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Explanatory notes
a. The Bharat Ratna ceremony is usually
held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi
but a special ceremony was held at
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai to
honour Karve on his 100th birthday, 18
April 1958.[9]
b. Per Article 18 (1) of the Constitution
of India: Abolition of titles, "no title,
not being a military or academic
distinction, shall be conferred by the
State".[18]
c. The PIL accused the then Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, Home
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Sports
Minister Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and
the secretary to the union home
department.
d. In 1960, Ramachandran was awarded
the Padma Shri, the fourth highest
civilian award, but declined as the
invitation was written in the
Devanagari script and not Tamil.[92]
e. Desai had earlier abolished the
awards while he was in the office of
Prime Minister for it being "worthless
and politicized".[104]
f. Earlier, Abul Kalam Azad had refused
the Bharat Ratna while he was the
Education Minister of India (1947–58)
citing that the selection committee
members should not themselves be
the recipients.[36][106][107]
Posthumous recipients
i. Lal Bahadur Shastri died on 11

January 1966, at the age of 61.
ii. K. Kamaraj died on 2 October 1975, at
the age of 72.
iii. Vinoba Bhave died on 15 November
1982, at the age of 87.
iv. M. G. Ramachandran died on 24
December 1987, at the age of 70.
v. B. R. Ambedkar died on 6 December
vi. Rajiv Gandhi died on 21 May 1991, at
the age of 46.
vii. Vallabhbhai Patel died on 15
December 1950, at the age of 75.
viii. Abul Kalam Azad died on 22 February
ix. Aruna Asaf Ali died on 29 July 1996,
at the age of 87.
x. Jayaprakash Narayan died on 8
October 1979, at the age of 76.
xi. Gopinath Bordoloi died on 5 August
xii. Madan Mohan Malaviya died on 12
November 1946, at the age of 84.
xiii. Hazarika died on 5 November 2011, at
the age of 85.
xiv. Deshmukh died on 27 February 2010,
at the age of 93.
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Wikimedia Commons has media

related to Bharat Ratna.
Basu, Kanailal (2010). Netaji:

Rediscovered . AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-
1-4490-5569-1.
Bhattacherje, S. B. (2009).
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Murthi, R.K. (2005). Encyclopedia of
Bharat Ratnas . Pitambar Publishing.
ISBN 978-81-209-1307-3.
Chandra, Shailesh (2009). Bharat Ratna:
The Jewel of India . Alfa Publications.
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Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna (Hindi

Type National civilian

Obverse An image of the Sun

Reverse A platinum State

Next (lower) Padma Vibhushan

The ﬁrst recipients of the Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna, along with other

Several bestowals of the award have met

There is no formal provision that recipients

The award was briefly suspended twice in

Although there is no formal nomination

As with many ofﬁcial announcements,

A year later, the design was modiﬁed. The

Subhas Chandra Bose (1992)

In 1992, a press release was published to confer the

To deliver the judgement, the Supreme

Civilian awards as "Titles" (1992)

In 1992, two PILs were ﬁled in the High

Following the announcement, in November

On 4 December 2013, the Election

A few of the conferments have been

Per the original statutes, sportspersons

An Indian independence activist, statesman, and lawyer,

Philosopher Radhakrishnan served as India's ﬁrst Vice-President

Madan Mohan Malaviya for the foundation of Banaras Hindu

Civil engineer, statesman, and Diwan of Mysore (1912–18),

Independence activist and author, Nehru is the ﬁrst and the

Independence activist Pant was premier of United Provinces

Social reformer and educator, Karve is widely known for his

A physician, political leader, philanthropist, educationist, and

Often titled as "Rajarshi", Tandon was an independence activist

Independence activist, lawyer, statesman, and scholar,[75] Prasad

1963 Independence activist and education philosopher, Husain served

Known as the "Iron Lady of India",[82] Gandhi was the Prime

While studying at the University College Dublin, Giri was involved

Independence activist and statesman Kamaraj was a Chief

"Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta" was a catholic nun and the

Independence activist, social reformer, and a close associate of

M. G. Actor turned politician Ramachandran served as Chief Minister

Social reformer and leader of the Dalits,[93] Ambedkar was the

Leader of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, Mandela

Widely known as the "Iron Man of India",[101] Patel was an

Independence activist Desai was the fourth Prime Minister of

1992 Independence activist Azad was India's ﬁrst Minister of

J. R. D. Tata Industrialist, philanthropist, and aviation pioneer, Tata founded

India's ﬁrst airline Air India. He is the founder of various institutes

Having debuted as a director with Pather Panchali (1955),[110]

Independence activist Nanda was two times interim Prime

Independence activist Ali is better known for hoisting the Indian

Aerospace and defence scientist, Kalam was involved in the

Carnatic classical vocalist Subbulakshmi, often hailed as "Queen

Independence activist and former Minister of Agriculture of India

1999 Jayaprakash Independence activist, social reformer, and commonly referred

Winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Independence activist Bordoloi is the ﬁrst Chief Minister of

Widely credited as the "nightingale of India",[124] playback singer

Hindustani classical shehnai player, Khan played the instrument

Hindustani classical vocalist, Joshi was a disciple of Kirana

2014 C. N. R. Rao The recipient of Honorary Doctorates from 63 Universities

Chemistry, Spectroscopy and Molecular Structure. He has

Having debuted in 1989, Tendulkar played 664 international

Scholar and educational reformer Malaviya is a founder of Akhil